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Ueix ©eor0e gj* Atkinson, 



^ortt, play 10, 1819. 
IHefr, 4;i?b. 25, 1889. 




COPYRIGHT, N. B. ATKINSON, 



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A 7 fir 



THE PILGRIMAGE. 

Rev. George H. Atkinson, D. D. , was born in New- 
bnryport, Mass., May ioth, 1819. He was the eighth 
child of William and Anna (Little) Atkinson, who 
were people of great strength and excellence of char- 
acter, and who imparted to their children the noble 
traits they themselves possessed. From his earliest 
years Dr. Atkinson was noted for his rare sincerity 
and earnestness of character. 

He spent his early years in alternate farm work and 
teaching, until 1839, when he entered Dartmouth col- 
lege, from which he graduated in 1843. From col- 
lege he went directly to the Theological seminar}' at 
Andover, graduating in 1846. He was then appointed 
to missionary work among the Zulus by the Ameri- 
can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, but 
upon the earnest solicitation of the American Home 
Missionary Society his destination was changed and 
he was appointed by it to Oregon, then the only ter- 
ritory on the Pacific coast. 

On the 8th of October, 1846, he was married to 
Nancy, daughter of Deacon Phineas and Abigail (Lin- 
coln) Bates, of Springfield, Vermont, whom it was 
ever after his joy and pride to call the kt crown of his 
life." Of the six children born to them only three 
reached mature years, and only two are now living. 



The oldest son, Dr. George H. Atkinson, a promi- 
nent physician of Brooklyn, New York, having died 
December 27th, 1884, in the midst of a useful and 
brilliant career. 

On the 24th of January, 1847, Dr. Atkinson was 
ordained at Newbury, Vermont (the home of his par- 
ents), and on the 24th of the following October sailed 
from Boston in the bark ' ' Samoset ' ' for his distant 
field, via Cape Horn and the Sandwich Islands. 

At Honolulu he waited three months for a vessel 
bound for Oregon, and so did not cross the Columbia 
river bar until June 12th, 1848, having taken passage 
in the Hudson Bay Company's vessel " Cowlitz." 

He settled in Oregon City, and remained there fif- 
teen years as pastor of the Congregational church. 
On the very day which terminated his labors with 
this church he became pastor of the First Congrega- 
tional church of Portland, remaining with this church 
ten years. 

These twenty-five years of pastoral service were full 
of hard yet zealous and loving labor for the Master, 
for, in addition to his local labors, he did much to es- 
tablish and carry on the work in other churches. 

He brought to this territory $2,000 worth of pub- 
lic school books and procured the establishment of a 
public school system by the Legislature of 1849. 
Graded schools owe much to his pioneer efforts. 

He was the first school superintendent of Clack-' 
amas county and held the same position in Multno- 
mah county for two terms after taking up his residence 



in Portland, in 1863; rendering efficient and active 
service in building up the excellent system of public 
schools which now prevails in that city. 

He began work for Pacific university within two 
weeks after his arrival in Oregon. Dr. Baldwin, 
Secretary of the American College and Education So- 
ciety, told him to ' ( found in Oregon an academy 
which should grow into a college. ' ' He started Tual- 
atin academy. He procured the first president of Pa- 
cific university; was one of the trustees of both, 
academy, and academy and university; and for more 
than forty years was the secretary of these boards of 
trustees. He was the last of the original incorpo- 
rators, having served longer than any one else had 
ever done. His labors for the institution never ceased. 
Last year he summarized its history during forty years, 
which account naturally omits mention of his own 
arduous work in all that time. 

In 1872 Dr. Atkinson became General Missionary 
for Oregon, and in 1880, Superintendent of Home 
Missions for Oregon and Washington. This work he 
laid down with his life. 

Wherever he was, at home or abroad, he was con- 
tinually giving his best energies to the interests of his 
field, yet, with all this anxious thought for its welfare, 
he kept abreast of the times in all scientific and theo- 
logical developments, and wrote much for the public 
press descriptive of Oregon and the resources of the 
Northwest; and during his frequent visits east deliv- 
ered many lectures on these subjects. 



Everything connected with the growth of the 
churches of his denomination show the remarkable 
energy and consecration of their founder. 

His rest was always change of labor rather than re- 
tirement from it, for he felt that the "king's busi- 
ness required haste." 

On the 1 6th of February, 1889, he went to Eastern 
Oregon to minister to one of the churches in his field; 
returned the 18th, having contracted a severe cold. 
For several days he was threatened with pneumonia, 
but active measures seemed to check the disease until 
Monday morning, February 25th, at 2 o'clock, when 
heart failure caused congestion of the lungs. 

Physicians were called but could afford no relief, 
and after a day of indescribable agony, at 1 1 p. M., 
tired nature yielded and he entered into the rest he 
had so richly earned. 

" Champion of Jesus, on that breast 
From whence thy fervor flowed, 
Thou hast obtained eternal rest, 
The bosom of thv God." 



OBITUARY. 

" HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP. 1 ' 

Rev. George Henry Atkinson was born at New- 
buryport, Mass., May 10, 1819, and rested from his 
labors February 25, 1889. 

Upon February 28th, near friends and relatives 
gathered at the residence to render a last tribute of 
love. After a brief service the remains were conveyed 
to the First Congregational church, where followed 
the tender and impressive services conducted by the 
pastor, Rev. T. E. Clapp, assisted by President Ellis 
(of Pacific University), Rev. C. T. Whittlesey, Rev. 
D. Staver, and Rev. H. V. Rominger. 

The church was beautifully decorated with choice 
flowers that filled the air with their perfume. Long- 
before the hour for this last sad, solemn service every 
seat except those for the friends was filled, and it was 
especially noteworthy to see present so many of other 
religious bodies, who came to pay respect to the mem- 
ory of this dear brother. 

After the sermon, by Rev. T. E. Clapp, the services 
were concluded with prayer by President Ellis, and 
singing of " Rock of Ages n by the choir. Then 
opportunity was given to look for the last time upon 
the dear and familiar face of our loved one. 



8 

The solemn procession was formed, and all that 
was mortal of Dr. Atkinson was taken to and laid 
away in that beautiful city of the dead, Riverview 
cemetery, almost in sight of the beginning of his 
precious life here nearly forty-one years before. 

Sleep soft, beloved, we sometimes say, 
But have no time to charm away 
Sad dreams that through the eyelids creep, 
But never doleful dream again 
Shall break the happy slumber, when 
" He giveth His beloved sleep." 

Ay, men may wonder while they scan 
A living, thinking, feeling man, 
Confirmed in such a rest to keep. 
But angels say — and through the word, 
I think, their happy smile is heard — 
" He giveth His beloved sleep." 



FUNERAL SERVICES 

of Rev. Dr. George H. Atkinson, at the First 
Congregational Church, Portland, Oregon, 
February 2 8th, 1889. 

Singing by the Choir: ks Nearer Home." 

PRAYER, 

By Rev. C. T. Whittlesey, of Plymouth Congregational Church, 
Portland, Oregon. 

SCRIPTURE READING, 
By Rev. D. Staver, of Forest Grove. 

Hebrews iv: 1-15. 
Revelations xiv: 1, 2, 3, 13. 

sermon, 

By Rev. T. E. Clapp, Pastor of the Church. 

Both fitness and the preference of personal affection 
have led us to select a part of the thirteenth verse of 
the fourteenth chapter of Revelations : 

u And I heard a voice from Heaven say unto me, 
Write k Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from 
henceforth; yea, saith the spirit, for they rest from 
their labors, and their works do follow them. ' The 
thoughtful student must always be impressed with the 



IO 

peculiar emphasis of this utterance. You remember 
it starts saying: "I heard a voice; " there is nothing 
to identify it; yet it is a good voice, because it comes 
from Heaven; it is an authoritative voice, or it 
would not be allowed to speak; but without its iden- 
tity manifested, it flows along, — Ci Blessed are the dead 
that die in the Lord henceforth; " and then, as if there 
might ever be no doubt about its identity, and as 
though this voice would have its identity known in 
order that through it there might come an immortal 
emphasis, it says: " Do you know who I am? I am 
the Spirit; I am God.'' 

So we are bidden in the light of it to feel that God 
always rejoices when one of his children dies. We 
weep, but God is always glad. And then, as if he 
would say to us; " You wonder why I am always glad 
when one of my children dies. I will tell you. There 
are a great many good reasons, but the chiefest and 
choicest of all to me is that, in death my child rests 
from his labors." Indeed, dear friends, it is very 
affecting to the student of the Bible to find how much 
God has always made of REST when he is thinking of 
us. Examining your concordance you will find that 
the word occupies a very large space. Through the 
medium of the concordance it is well to compel your- 
selves to see how much God thinks of some things ; and 
you will be affected when you find that God calls your 
attention to Rest in almost the first chapter of the 
Bible. You remember how it reads in the . second 
chapter of Genesis : l k And on the sixth day God fin- 
ished his work, and he rested on the seventh da}-, and 



1 1 

God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because 
in it he rested from his labors." Why, then, did he 
tell ns as one of the earliest of things, that he rested, 
and hallowed the da}' because he rested ? For what- 
else could it be, my friends, than that glancing down 
through the long centuries, with heart in such deep 
sympathy with all the weariness, toil and anxieties, 
that would oppress his children, and burden them, all 
the more because they were his faithful children — 
because the hardest worked men in the universe are 
those who live closest to God and try most to do his 
work — as if, I say, glancing down the centuries and 
foreseeing these things, he hastens, before men begin 
to sweat and toil and bear burdens, to give them this 
word REST, that it might have a place in their vocab- 
ulary, that they might become acquainted with rest 
even before they began to work. And then, too, how 
tender and sacred it all is when we see the manner in 
which he put the word into our vocabulary. Instead 
of giving us a precept, saying, You shall have rest, he 
simply acted it, pictured this great object-lesson; for 
the highest way God has of teaching us is to give us 
an example. What he would have us do, he does; 
and so he rested. And besides, it has always seemed 
to me as if he must have said to himself, tc Now even 
if I tell my children to rest, they will think that I 
look down upon them, as if it were childish and foolish 
for them to pretend to be tired and weary ; ' ' and so He 
throws all around this act of His — this act of resting — 
the immortal halo of His own example, thus forever 
sanctifying the day because He rested on it; as though 



12 

He would make men feel that there was nothing so 
sacred, when one has done a good day's work as rest. 
Even then, He does not pause, but goes on to divide 
our lives into fragments of seven; six days to work, 
and the seventh pn which to rest. And you remem- 
ber, He said nothing about hallowing the six days, but 
He does hallow the seventh day to rest. And so He 
leads us on, teaching us as He leads us, while the years 
and the centuries roll, and gradually it dawns upon 
our minds that this division of our lives into work-days 
and rest days is not an end, but only a means to an end, 
the symbol of a still greater reality. In the letter to the 
Hebrews, that my brother read this morning, moved 
by the Holy Spirit, the writer says: " There remainetli 
a rest." You have not had it yet; you have had 
foretastes of it, but it is yet to come; and into all the 
unborn centuries the eye of Christian hope glances 
forward and says: 'Where is it? It is yet to come.' 
And then it bursts in full morning splendor upon us, 
as our brother, lured by that strange voice, lifts up 
his eyes and gazes upon the open heavens and hears 
these words of the text: "Blessed are the dead that 
die in the Lord henceforth; yea, saith the spirit, for 
they rest from their labors. ' ' So, God has taught us 
to look upon these earthly lives of ours as the six 
days, and upon the life awaiting His people on the 
other side of the grave, as the Sabbath — the rest. 
Hence, it seems as if He had said to us : ' ' There are a 
great many charms, my children, on the other side, 
and I know them every one by name; but of all the 
charms, there is none so dear to the heart, and so 



*3 

dear to the heart of your Father in Heaven, as this 
charm and blessing of rest. ' ' 

Such seems to me to be the meaning of the text; 
and we are called upon to-day to take the truth and 
wrap it around this casket, to apply it to the life of 
our dear brother. Nay, it seemed to me as if God 
bids us listen now, and hear the still small voice say- 
ing, "Blessed is he, dead in the Lord, for he rests 
from his labors. " From his labors. There is no 
good in resting excepting as a cessation from labor. 
The loafer has no rest ; the man who toils for six long 
days knows the rest of the Sabbath day ; but the idler, 
to him it is irksome. So God would have us remem- 
ber that it is true, as I said in the beginning, that the 
truer our life is, the more toilsome burdensome, anx- 
ious and oppressed it is, if we are striving after higher 
and holier things — things that test us, that try all and 
the best qualities of the soul. He who lives nearest to 
God, is in this world, the most laborious man. There 
is something; of this to be thought of in connection 
with our brother. He rests from his labors, because 
they were labors to rest from; and the words seem to 
be very eloquent as I apply them to him. 

Of his labors this is no place nor time for me to 
attempt an outline; but I wonder whether any of you 
will think it invidious if I say that his labors, taking 
them all in all, stand as the. best record thus far 
of any in the history of your State and his. In 
unwearied devotion, in indomitable industry, in varied 
learning, in patient self-sacrifice, in high motive, in 
pure philanthropy, in loyalty to God, in eminent 



H 

usefulness, for forty unbroken years, all in all, can his 
activity be matched in our history ? And measured 
by the highest standards does he not lie before us as, 
thus far, the most eminent citizen of Oregon ? I say 
again, I do not know whether you will question it, 
for I am not familiar with all the noble lives, and I 
ask you to remember that I said, take it all in all; 
and I leave the challenge as I have thrown it out. 

For no single year did he turn aside at the call of 
wealth or ambition; doing- a great work, he never 
came down from it, but went right on, in Christ's 
name, and after Christ's perfect wisdom and method, 
serving his generation according to the will of God, 
and now like David, he is fallen asleep. 

Turned hitherward to our Pacific coast, not by 
choice but by Providence, as it hath been with so 
many eminent men of God, who do not find the fields 
they choose, but those selected by a higher wisdom; 
but having found them, he, like those men, stayed 
where God put him; and so it came to pass that right 
hereupon this North Pacific coast, our brother poured 
out the sunshine and the rain of his forty years of 
service. Oregon alone has measured it, and I need 
not tell you that though God shut him up to the coast, 
he never begrudged it. His duty soon grew to be a 
labor of love to him, because he loved Oregon. Nay, 
he did more than love it; I doubt if in all the 
State there hath lived a pioneer who believed in Ore- 
gon as he did. How his heart swelled and his ' face 
glowed as he would talk to us about her future; and 
few men had the intelligence to talk about her and 



1 5 

her future as he possessed. There was nothing about her 
mineral resources, her capacities in the way of com- 
merce or manufactories or agriculture— in short, 
nothing about her that he did not seem to have known 
and to have learned by heart, like a story or poem 
that one loves. He loved everything that promised 
advancement; he loved to think of these rivers full of 
shipping, our valleys full of grain, our mountains full 
of ores; the banks of our streams lined with factories, 
the valleys full of people, numbered by the million, 
but people following commerce, manufacturing, agri- 
culture, everything, and fulfilling them to the glory of 
God. This was the great dream of his heart that spurred 
him on to the end of his life. His motto was always 
"Oregon for Christ, and for Christ through all the chan- 
nels of public and private activity;" and who but 
the recording angels and the angels' God will 
ever know how many anxieties, tears, prayers, thanks- 
givings, entered into this solid forty years of labor. 
There is a difference between work and labor. Work 
stands for the energies concentrated on the work; but 
labor stands for the pain it costs to hold those ener- 
gies in their place, and to keep them busy; the pain 
of mind and heart and body, of faith and courage; 
and I say it cost him much to keep those energies 
steadily and persistently turned on this one spot for 
nearly half a century. It cost him pain bravely en- 
dured, shared by a loyal and loving wife and children; 
it cost him the inevitable anxieties born of long and 
slow-maturing plans; it cost him grief and every- 
thing of bereavement when God again and again 



i6 

took home the children of his heart. But in the 
midst of them all he stood at his post without falter- 
ing, without flinching, and not knowing until within 
a few last torturing hours how near his fight was 
fought, his race was run; how near his faith was kept, 
and how nearly in the celestial sunshine he stood, 
with the jewels of his crown within the touch of his 
tired hand. 

The last official act of his life was an anxious one; 
it was an attempt to make a rough place plain in the 
way of the Lord, and in the doing of it he laid down 
his life. In what is now so pathetic and precious to 
me — our last personal interview only a few days ago 
— he showed me plainly, without giving you the topic 
that we were discussing, how this cry for rest that 
God anticipated, was becoming more and more in- 
tense and imperative to him, and it began to look so 
sweet to him to find some places and times in his 
work that were welcoming him to begin. And now 
it has come differently from what we expected. He 
rests from his labors. 



AT REST. 

Rest for the toiling hand, 

Rest for the anxious brow; 
Rest for the weary, way-worn feet, 

Rest from all labor now. 
Rest for the fevered brain, 

Rest for the throbbing eye; 
Through those parched lips of thine 

No more shall pass the moan or sigh 



i7 

Go to thy grave at eve, from labors cease; 

Rest on thy sheaves — thy heaviest task is done; 
Come from the heat of battle, and in peace, 

Soldier, go home; with thee the fight is won. 

No, no, it is not dying — heaven's citizen to be, 

A crown immortal wearing, 

And rest unbroken sharing, 
From care and conflict free. 

One less at home! 
The charmed circle broken; a dear face 
Missed day by day from its accustomed place; 
But, cleans' d and saved and perfected by grace, 

One more in heaven! 

One less at home! 
One voice of welcome hush'd, and evermore 
One farewell word unspoken; on the shore 
Where parting comes not, 

One more in heaven! 

One less at home! 
A sense of loss that meets us at the gate; 
Within, a place unfilled and desolate; 
And far away our coming to await, 

One more in heaven! 

One less on earth! 
Its pain, its sorrow, and its toil to share; 
One less the pilgrim's daily cross to bear; 
One more the crown of ransomed souls to wear, 

At home in heaven! 



i8 

One more in heaven! 
Another thought to brighten cloudy days, 
Another theme for thankfulness and praise. 
Another link on high our souls to raise 

To heaven and prayer! 

One more at home — 
That home where separation cannot be. 
That home where none are missed eternallv 



PRAVER, 
By Dr. J. F. Ellis. President Pacific University, Forest Grove, Or. 

SINGING, 

Bv the Choir, li Rock of Aeres Cleft for Me." 



TRIBUTES. 

By H. W. Scott, Esq., Editor of The Oregonian. 
A TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY. 

In all the industries and activities of life Dr. Atkin- 
son saw forces that contributed to the growth of the 
kingdom of God. He recognized it as a demand of 
this, our mortal life, that human energy should exert 
itself in even- direction to promote the growth of mind 
and soul, and part of his large idea was to refine, to 
spiritualize and to exalt the multiplying activities and 
efforts called forth in the endless differentiation of 
modern life. Hence, he looked upon extension of all 
branches of human industry, upon all efforts to multi- 
ply the resources of labor and of production, with the 
eye of one who takes note of the needs of man as a 
being for both the worlds. He worked for material 
objects in order that he and others might turn them 
to spiritual account in the growth and development of 
man. All things with him were means to ends; and 
though he was one of the most spiritually-minded of 
men, he never forgot that he lived in a world of affairs. 

Therefore, throughout all his ceaseless work for 
education, for morals, for religion, for the kingdom of 
God in the soul, 



20 



THIS MANY-SIDED MAN 



Was among the most earnest and active to press (of 
those who pressed) the advantages of developing the 
natural resources of the Northwest ; of planting indus- 
tries; of establishing commerce; of extending and 
improving agriculture ; of turning to account the great 
natural wealth of the country in timber, minerals, soil 
and water power. He never wearied of showing, 
through private talks, public addresses and articles 
contributed to the press, what could be done here in 
these innumerable lines of industry and effort and how 
to do it. He was not satisfied to keep pace with the 
natural development of the country. His mind outran 
it and upon its great future he held forth with the 
voice of a prophet. Nor was this the case merely 
during these later years, since the growth began that 
is seen by every one. It was the habit of his life. He 
saw the possibilities of the Northwest from the day 
his residence began in it, forty years ago, and he spoke 
and wrote of 

ITS COMING GREATNESS 

During all these years of the country's isolation and 
remoteness, when such voices were few. He was a 
student of the operations of nature, as well as of 
the affairs of men. He was among the first to note 
the peculiarity of our climate and other physical con- 
ditions, and to draw right conclusions therefrom. 
Ivong before the great region contained within the 
basin of the upper Columbia began to be settled, and 
while it was still regarded mainly as a desert, he 



21 

pointed out through articles widely published, how the 
conditions of climate and soil would surely be changed 
by tree-planting, by the plow, and by the harvests 
that would gradually increase as the country filled with 
an industrial population. (He showed how the natural 
conditions of the country would be modified by human 
agency, as the industry of man came in as a reinforce- 
ment to the operations of nature). The elaborate 
articles published by him on this subject many years 
ago, read now in their fulfillment, would be a record 
of prescience and forecast every way remarkable, and 
certainly without a parallel here. 

All this work, as all the work of his life, was done 
without ostentation, without any kind of study to 
produce startling effects. The effort he put forth was 
never for display. He was a plain, simple and 
practical man, who harbored no visionary ideas, from 
whom no indiscreet utterances escaped, whose speech 
and action harmonized always with a quiet yet firm 
demeanor. He feared God and he regarded man. 



22 



[From The Pacific. San Francisco.] 

DR. GEORGE H. ATKINSON. 

BY PRESIDENT JOHN EATON, FOR SIXTEEN YEARS 

UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION. 

NOW OF MARIETTA COLLEGE, OHIO. 

Marietta, April 26, 1889. 
Mr. Editor : 

Will you indulge me with an additional word in 
regard to Dr. Atkinson. I heard him make his plea 
for Oregon and the Pacific coast before the students 
at Dartmouth college, and ever after followed him 
and his great subject with increasing interest. When 
it became my duty to select some one to report on 
education for Oregon and Washington Territory, no 
one was brought to my attention who seemed so fit to 
trust with the service as Dr. Atkinson. In all the 
varied service to the different phases of education in 
those formative States, which the Bureau was enabled 
to render during the sixteen years of my supervision, 
I was specially indebted to him. His information 
was promptly furnished and trustworthy; his opinions 
carefully matured and thoroughly safe. He was 
called upon to advise with reference to the first 
territorial message and the first territorial laws and 
the State constitutional provisions on the subject of 
education. He was a devoted friend of all good work 
for the elevation of the people — of all the people. 
He aided in directing the establishment of various 
institutions of instruction, but specially led in found- 
ing the academy and universitv at Forest Grove, and 



23 

the academy at Cheney and Whitman college. The 
public schools of Portland are specially indebted to 
him for their success. 

Around his consecrated purpose there centered the 
activities of his strong and large nature. His scholar- 
ship was of a high order. His habits of application 
were fitted to make the most of his time and talent. 
He saw with unusual clearness the relation of Chris- 
tianity to the affairs of this life, and he was on the 
alert to aid in even- form of human progress. He 
was not only wise in promoting civil and religious 
institutions, but he was a leader in the development of 
the agricultural and mineral resources, the industries, 
commerce and varied enterprises of that vast region. 
He prepared a pamphlet which was published, seek- 
ing to insure the setting apart lots for churches and 
schoolhouses in every town site located by railroad 
or other enterprise. His heart went out towards 
the neglected and abused populations of Alaska; 
and until Dr. Sheldon Jackson began to devote 
himself to the interests of that region, he was one of 
the chief sources of the information, which I was 
enabled to use privately with statesmen and philan- 
thropists, and to furnish the public, in preparing the 
way for the establishment of law and order pledged to 
the population of that far-off country by the terms of 
our purchase. Dr. Atkinson was one of the most 
completely rounded men I ever knew, and I shall 
always be his debtor. Yours, 

John Eaton. 



24 

[From The Pacific, San Francisco.] 

Feb. 28th, iJ 

It is reported by the daily papers of this city, in the 
telegraphic news from Portland, Or., that Rev. Dr. 
George H. Atkinson died in that city last Monday 
night, after a brief illness. We knew that Mrs. 
Atkinson had been quite sick with pneumonia, and 
Dr. Atkinson was not very well, but we did not expect 
to hear of his death. He was here some weeks last 
summer at the Teachers 1 Convention, and was so 
strong and well, and happy in his visit, and his life, 
and his plans for the future. But he was 70 years old, 
and his days were numbered, and he is gone. How 
beautiful to have such an old age as he had, full of 
vigor and the full use of all one's faculties, with such 
capacity for enjoyment and good fellowship, and to 
work up almost to the da}' of death — to die in the 
harness! Fitting memorial notices will be in our 
columns next week. We will only say to-day that 
one of the best men on this Coast has gone to his 
reward — one of those longest in God's service here. 
He was true and faithful to even' trust. He laid good 
foundations, for he made Christ Jesus the chief corner- 
stone. He was a pioneer whose name and work will long 
be remembered as identified with all good objects, but 
especially and pre-eminently with the advancement of 
Christ's kingdom in Oregon and Washington. 



25 

[From The Oregoniax, Portland.] 

Feb. 27th, 1889. 

The death of Rev. G. H. Atkinson, which took 
place at his home, in this city, Monday evening, has 
removed from the scenes of a long and useful life a 
man who has labored earnestly and quietly for the 
moral, religious and educational welfare of the State 
for more than fort}' years. The record of these years 
is an open book, with which the people, with and for 
whom he has so long labored are familiar. Its pages 
are closely written with the story of earnest endeavor, 
of faithful admonition and of tender sympathy. While 
his religious and educational efforts have been the 
most notable features of his life, he has yet aided 
greatly in the development of the State by the dissem- 
ination of useful information concerning its resources 
and advantages. A true pioneer, he shared cheerfully 
the labors and privations that fell to the lot of those 
who were the advance agents of civilization in the 
Pacific Northwest, and he lived to see the fruit of 
much that he, in his early and vigorous manhood had 
planted. His name will be associated in the memories 
of those who knew him with much that was of more 
than passing interest in the unwritten history of 
Oregon and it will ever hold an honored place on its 
written pages. 



RESOLUTIONS. 

AMERICAN HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY, NEW YORK. 

At a meeting- of the Executive Committee of the 
American Home Missionary Society, held April 3, 
1889, the following minute and resolution were unan- 
imously adopted: 

It having- pleased God to remove, by death, Rev. 
George H. Atkinson, D. D., Superintendent of the 
work of this Society in Oregon, the Executive Com- 
mittee desire to express in their records the sorrow 
with which they have received the tidings of his 
departure, and their high appreciation of the arduous 
and manifold service which he has rendered to the 
cause of Home Missions during a period of forty- 
years. 

He entered the sen'ice of this Society at a critical 
juncture in its history. In 1846, before the comple- 
tion of his theological studies at Andover, he applied 
to the American Board for an appointment to labor 
among the Zulus in South Africa. But in the same 
Year the territory now comprised in the States of Ore- 
gon and Washington, and the Territory of Idaho, was 
ceded by Great Britain to the United States. Thus this 
vast region, destined to become the home of millions of 
our countrymen, was converted in a day from a foreign 
into a home missionary field, demanding immediate 



28 

occupancy by the American Home Missionary Society. 
An appeal was promptly made by the Executive Com- 
mittee for laborers, to enter this great and effectual 
door. Mr. Atkinson was the first to respond. He 
withdrew his application for an appointment to labor 
in South Africa, and proposed* to this Society to be 
its pioneer in the work of laying the foundations of 
Christian institutions in the new-born empire of the 
Pacific. In October, 1847, ne embarked for Oregon 
Territory, and at the end of eight months and a voy- 
age of 14,000 miles, by way of Sandwich Islands, he 
reached the field where his life-work was to be per- 
formed, and where he has now been laid in an hon- 
ored grave. 

His life thenceforward was one of unreserved self-sac- 
rifice, and heroic toil in the face of peculiar obstacles. 
Few missionaries in our own country have borne, for 
so many years, such a burden of labor, responsibility 
and care. Being, for twenty -five years, the senior 
Congregational pastor, then general missionary, and 
finally superintendent of missions, his counsel and 
active labors were in demand in all sections of his 
widely extended field. He could say, as another gen- 
eral missionary once said: " Besides those things that 
are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care 
of all the churches. ' ' He was hardly less active and 
efficient in the sphere of education. In less than three 
months after his arrival, he planted the seed which 
took root and produced, first: Tualatin academy, and 
afterwards the Pacific university. He took a leading 
part, also, in the organization and direction of a 

*Records show that he was sought for, for this work. 



2 9 

system of public instruction and various benevolent, 
humane and reformatory institutions which now dis- 
tinguish these great commonwealths. As a wise mas- 
ter builder he laid the foundation, and others builded 
thereon. Such is the work which he performed for 
his own generation, for all generations, for his coun- 
try, for the world, for Christ. He rests from his 
labors, and we cannot doubt that he has heard from 
the Savior's lips the promised words of approval and 
welcome: "Well clone, good and faithful servant 
* * * enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Resolved, That the foregoing minute be entered 
upon the records of the committee and published in 
the Home Missionary, and that a copy of the same be 
transmitted to the family of Dr. Atkinson, with the 
assurance of our tender sympathy and our prayer, 
that the God of all comfort will sustain them under 
their heavv burden of sorrow. 



3° 

ASSOCIATIONS OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON 
TERRITORY. 

[Resolutions passed at The Dalles. Or.] 

June, 1889. 

Whereas, in the Providence of God, our beloved 
Brother and venerable Superintendent, Rev. G. H. 
Atkinson, has been called from the scenes of his 
earthly labors of love to his restful reward in the 
heavenly city; and, 

Whereas, We, the churches and ministers of Oregon 
have learned to love and esteem him as a strong and 
willing helper, and to trust and honor him as a wise 
counselor and true friend; therefore, 

Resolved, That in this sad event we are bereft as of 
a father, and deeply feel our great loss in the perma- 
nent withdrawal of one who, by long experience, broad 
culture and extended observation was pre-eminently 
fitted to give council and cheer to the workers, and 
inspire them with hope and courage for their arduous 
labors in these difficult parts of the Master's vineyard, 
and that we will ever hold among the treasures of our 
memory, his consecration and unselfish self-sacrificing 
and loving devotion to the work of the Master, his 
simple, childlike trust and unwavering faith in God, 
his prayerful interest in and ardent love for the 
churches, and untiring effort and patient labor for 
their welfare, as a notable example worthy of our most 
earnest endeavor in following. And that in this, our 
bereavement, we will look unto the hills whence 



3 1 

cometh our sure and never-failing help, ever remem- 
bering that ' ' though the drops fall one by one and 
sink into the sands, the beautiful bow of God's promise 
still stands, ' ' and thus we are encouraged to go forward 
in the work of bringing to noble and bountiful fruitage 
the vines of our Brother's planting. 



[Resolutions passed at Olympia, Washington Ter.] 

June, 1889. 

Whereas, Dr. George H. Atkinson has spent a 
long and useful life in Christian work in Oregon and 
Washington, a record of which will be of great value 
both in a historical way and as an inspiration to those 
who will follow him; 

Therefore, Resolved that this Association petition 
the General Associations of Washington and Oregon 
to appoint a joint committee at their next annual 
meetings, who shall prepare a suitable memorial 
sketch of his life, to be published in a pamphlet or 
book form, and to secure from the churches enough 
means to publish the same. 



32 

[Resolutions passed at Pendleton, Or.] 

May 4, 

The Mid-Columbia Association comprises churches, 
scattered widely apart over the "Inland Empire," as 
Eastern Oregon is called, the furthermost being dis- 
tant a hundred and eighty-seven miles from here. 
Wednesday evening was devoted to reminiscences of 
Dr. Atkinson, and was to every one the most precious 
time of all. Each had some reminiscence to relate of 
Dr. Atkinson's kindness, nobility and grand strength 
of purpose. Among those who thus paid their tribute 
of love to the Doctor's memory was Dr. William 
McKay, one of the historic characters of Oregon, 
widely known on this coast as one of the best of the 
Hudson Bay men. He had been among the first to 
welcome Dr. Atkinson to missionary work in Oregon 
forty years ago, and his account of those early times 
and of the Doctor's first arrival here was picturesque 
and interesting in the extreme. The following reso- 
lution was adopted by the Association: 

"Resolved, That, in common with all the Congre- 
gational associations of Oregon and Washington, we 
deeply lament the loss of Dr. Atkinson from our coun- 
cils, who, by his wisdom, urbanity and years of ser- 
vice, had become dear to us all. We rejoice that he 
was spared so long to help lay foundations in Oregon 
in so much that is noble in Church and State. And 
we will ever cherish the memory of his life as a model 
of all that is strong and beautiful in consecrated work 
for Christ " 



33 

[From The Pacific, San Francisco.] 

REV. GEORGE H. ATKINSON, D. D. 

BY REV. SAMUEL GREENE, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. 

Dear Pacific: 

It was while I was en route to the lower Sound, to 
be absent for a little time, that, upon casually taking 
up a paper from the table in our boat's cabin, I cast 
my eye upon a telegram which gave me the sad and 
unexpected notice of the death of our much-beloved 
friend, Dr. Atkinson, of Portland, Oregon, who for so 
long a time had the oversight and charge of all the 
home missionary work of all this northern region. 
" The care of all the churches " was his care for al- 
most forty-one years. 

Upon my coming to Puget Sound, fifteen years 
since, with one exception, he was the only person on 
the coast that I felt at all acquainted with. Not that 
I had ever seen him face to face, but I had read for 
years, at the east, in the Home Missionary and the 
weekly religious papers, his letters, till the name of 
George H. Atkinson was one familiar to me. Talk- 
ing yesterday with an old Oregon pioneer, Deacon 
John Flett, now of Lakeview, he said, c ' You cannot 
think how the coming of Mr. Atkinson cheered up 
the hearts of those men and missionaries who had so 
recently gone through the trials of the Indian troubles 
in Eastern Oregon, and, escaping, had gathered in the 
Willamette valley. The presence of that bright, ear- 
nest, educated young man among us helped us won- 
derfully, and I have known and loved Dr. Atkinson 
from that day to this. About two years ago he was 



34 

here in my house, and I asked him if it was not about 
time for him and me to give up working so hard. 
'No,' says the Doctor, 'we must work the harder and 
die with the harness on. ' ' Yes, surely, if it can be 
said of any, it can be said of him, u He died in the 
harness." *#•■** 

His work in behalf of all our Home Missionary 
churches was unceasing. His heart and his thought 
were constantly reaching out over his broad field of 
labor, planning for successful endeavor on his own 
part and on the part of the several pastors in each of 
their local churches. Although his work on the Sound 
was given to another more than five years since, he 
never lost interest in any of our churches. His ad- 
vice, counsel, time and money were freely given 
wherever needed. As our churches grew in strength, 
none were more anxious than he that they should 
grow still stronger, by themselves carrying the bur- 
dens, coming up toward self-support. The proposition 
that each member of all our Congregational churches 
should contribute not less than one cent per da}' 
to the Home Missionary treasury, was so far as I 
know, original with him. * * 

No other man upon this Northwest coast has been 
able to do and has done so much for the religious in- 
terests of this region as he. But few men in the 
whole country have had the privilege to do as much 
for so widely an extended area. He was a man. of 
great faith, untiring energy, and an unfaltering cour- 
age. The earnest, busy Home Missionary worker has 
completed his task. His rest has come, and he has 
■2fone home. Shall not the Master say, ik Well done? " 



35 

[Tualatin Academy and Pacific University. J 

GEORGE H. ATKINSON. 

Resolutions passed by the Board of Trustees of Tualatin Academy 
and Pacific University at the forty-second annual meeting, 
held at Forest Grove, Oregon, June 18th and 19th, 1889. 

Whereas, one of our number, Rev. G. H. Atkin- 
son, D. D. , has been removed by death since our last 
meeting, who has served on this Board of Trust from 
the first, more than forty years, longer than any other 
person ever has done, who first brought the idea of 
this institution from the East in 1848, who has served 
as secretary of our board from the beginning-, and as 
financial agent for several years, and has in his trips 
East, worked for the institution in procuring its first 
president, Rev. S. H. Marsh, D. D., and other instruct- 
ors, and has also obtained several thousand dollars for 
it, and all freely, without pay, except the reward that 
comes from on high, from doing good, because his 
heart has been in this work. Therefore 

Resolved, That we, the trustees of Tualatin acad- 
emy and Pacific university, hereby express our grati- 
tude to our Heavenly Father that he has spared Dr. 
Atkinson to us so long, to do so much, and bow in 
humble submission to the will of God in taking him 
from us. 

Resolved, That in the death of our dear brother and 
fellow laborer we feel that we have suffered a great 
loss in the cessation of labors which he constantly 
gave to this institution, being nearly always present 
at its annual gatherings, and at all other times when 
its interests demanded a friend. 



36 

Resolved, That we miss him at our councils, as 
trustees, as perhaps no other one of our number 
would be missed, and fear it will not be possible to 
supply his place with any one whose words will be as 
weighty and valuable for its good. 

Resolved, That Oregon and the whole Pacific coast 
has lost one who has identified himself with all its 
interests almost from the first of its settlement, its 
moral and Christian welfare having lain near to his 
heart, his prayers having gone up unceasingly for its 
good; his labors having never slacked for its families, 
its schools, its churches — at its homes, on the street, 
in places of business, with young and old, his cheer- 
ing face and words of hearty recognition in the joys 
and sorrows of the poor and the rich, having been an 
inspiration to good cheer and comfort and hope. 

Resolved, That with his family we mourn the loss 
of one who was a model husband and father, ever faith- 
ful and true, always loving and patient, constantly 
unselfish and helpful, and never willingly leaving a 
single burden to others without bearing his full share. 

Resolved, That with the help of God we will 
endeavor to take up the burdens he has laid down, and 
to carry into our lives the spirit and characteristics of 
good which he bore so nobly and faithfully to the 
close of his life. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be fur- 
nished to the family of Dr. Atkinson, with whom we 
sympathize deeply in their affliction, and also to the 
press for publication. 



37 

[First Congregational Church, Portland. Oregon.] 

IN MEMORIAM. 

Resolutions adopted in Respect to the Memory of the late Rev. Dr. 
Geo. H. Atkinson. 

At a recent meeting of the First Congregational 
church the following resolutions, embodying the sense 
of the church with respect to the memory of Dr. 
Atkinson, were reported by a committee appointed for 
that purpose and adopted by a rising vote: 

Whereas, It has pleased our loving and ever 
merciful Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom, to 
translate from our midst to the place of eternal rest 
and happiness our beloved brother and father in God, 
Rev. Geo. H. Atkinson, D. D. , who for so many years 
gave his life to the service of the Master in building 
up the kingdom of the Lord, making the waste places 
fruitful, and the rough places smooth; and, 

Whereas, His life work has been so interwoven 
with the interests of this church since its organization 
in 1 85 1 — temporarily supplying the pulpit much of the 
time to 1863 — acting as permanent pastor for nearly 
ten years thereafter and being a member for more than 
twenty-five years; and 

Whereas, In the ministry, in the pastoral relation, 
as a teacher, in promoting education and disseminating 
valuable knowledge relative to our State and adjacent 
country he has ever been foremost, faithful, diligent and 
untiring in all that goes to make up a consecrated and 
useful life as a Christian minister and citizen; therefore. 



38 

Resolved, That we are most earnest in onr expres- 
sion of thanksgiving that our brother, throughout his 
long and useful career, studied to show himself 
approved of God, that he might rightly divide the 
word of truth, and be sanctified and meet for the 
Master's use, and prepared for every good work, and 
whose example was so faithful and commendable in 
word, in conversation, in spirit, in charity, in faith, 
in purity, as to perpetually inspire us with an ever 
increasing desire to be more earnest in every effort to 
benefit our fellows and so build up the Lord's kingdom. 

Resolved, That we are profoundly thankful that 
God, in his loving kindness, has given us the privilege 
of the counsel and ministrations of so devoted a disciple 
of Christ, so thoroughly furnished unto all good works, 
so gentle to all men, so apt to teach, so patient, so full 
of knowledge of the Scriptures which are able to make 
us wise unto salvation through the faith which is in 
Christ Jesus. 

Resolved, That while we bow in reverent, trustful, 
and humble submission to the will of the Father of 
mercies, and the God of all comfort, and realize that 
he knows what is best for us, yet it is with sincere 
sorrow that we mourn the departure of our brother 
from the scene of his earthly usefulness and activities, 
thus breaking in twain for this life the ties of love 
and affection binding him to his bereaved wife and 
children, and ending the sweet Christian love . and 
intercourse that it has been our blessed privilege to 
enjoy with him as members of the same church. 



39 

Resolved, That we have confidence, in view of the 
large measure of his unselfish and untiring devotion 
to the Master's work, along all lines of spiritual and 
material activity, with but one end to be attained, that 
of adding to the kingdom of God upon earth; that, 
having fought the good fight, finished his good course 
and kept the faith, he has received the crown of right- 
eousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, prom- 
ised, not only to him, but to all who love his appearing. 

Resolved, That we most earnestly sympathize with 
the stricken wife and sorrowing children and other 
relatives, in this their hour of supreme loss, but pray 
that they may receive the blessed assurance of the 
word of God that all who mourn shall be comforted, 
that the Lord is a present help aud a refuge in every 
hour of need and trouble, and best of all the consoling 
words of the revelation, ' k Blessed are the dead which 
die in the Lord — the}' may rest from their labors and 
their works will follow them. ' ' 

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon 
the record of the church, and that a copy be suitably 
eno'rossed and sent to the familv of our deceased 

o 

brother, and that copies for publication be furnished 
to The Oregonian, of Portland, and The Pacific, of 
San Francisco. 



4 o 



HOME MISSIONARY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT 
ALBINA, OR. 



Albina, Or., March 5th, ii 

At the regular monthly meeting of the First Con- 
gregational Church of Albina, Or., March 2d, 1889, 
the following preamble and resolutions were unani- 
mously adopted: 

Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to 
remove our faithful, able and beloved Missionary 
Superintendent, Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D. D., from the 
labors of earth to the rest of Heaven; and 

Whereas, This church is, under God, indebted to 
him for the plans and initial steps which led up to its 
organization, and for the efforts which secured to us 
most of the money which has entered into our build- 
ing operations, and without which we could not have 
built our excellent house of worship and parsonage; 
and for helpful and unfailing friendship and sympa- 
thizing interest in all our works and struggles; there- 
fore 

Resolved, That we owe it to his memory to record 
our heartfelt appreciation of the service he rendered 
us in our weakness and need, as a church, and our 
high appreciation of his worth as a man, and his 
ability and usefulness as a minister and missionary 
superintendent. 

Resolved, That in his death this church has lost 
one of its best and most helpful friends — a friend upon 
whom it could rely for help in every time of need. 



4i 

Resolved, That we will cherish his memory and 
faithfully endeavor to render our church worthy of 
the efforts and sacrifices he made for it. 

Resolved, That we extend to his bereaved com- 
panion and family our deepest sympathy in their be- 
reavement, and pray God to give them all the com- 
forts that Christianity holds in store for those who 
sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. We re- 
cognize the present loss as great, but the gain by the 
coming meeting in our "Father's House of Many 
Mansions" will be infinitely greater. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be incorporated 
with our minutes and a copy be furnished Mrs. Atkin- 
son. 

T. H. Henderson, 

Acting- Pastor and Clerk. 



42 



[From the proceedings of the Annual School Meeting, (Portland) District No. l. Mulr- 
nomah County, March 5, 1889.] 



TRIBUTE TO DR. ATKINSON. 

Rev. T. Iv. Eliot then read and offered the follow- 
ing resolution, which was adopted: 

In the death of Dr. George H. Atkinson, of this 
city, the cause of public education has lost one of its 
wisest and most earnest friends, who through a long 
life of usefulness in many ways, always accounted 
the interests of the public schools as synonymous with 
patriotism and the highest welfare of the people. This 
school district and the entire State is indebted to Dr. 
Atkinson for the vigilance and fidelity with which he 
co-operated in every substantial measure for the ad- 
vancement of education in our midst, and by this 
resolution at this time spread upon the minutes we 
wish to acknowledge his true and honorable influence, 
and to express sympathy with his family in their be- 
reavement. 

Dr. Eliot said there had been some talk of chang- 
ing the name of the North school. ' ' I take the lib- 
erty of suggesting, ' ' he said, " if a new name is se- 
lected for a school in this district, none is more suit- 
able and appropriate than that of Atkinson. ' ' 



LETTERS OF SYMPATHY. 

FROM REV. DR. WILLEY, A CLASSMATE AT DARTMOUTH. 

Benicia, Cal., Feb. 28, 1889. 
Airs. Atkinson: 

My Dear Friend — What shall I say! I am in a be- 
wilderment of surprise and grief ! Such intelligence as 
the Pacific brought me this Thursday morning! 

I have to keep reading it, and even then I only 
seem to half believe it. I never thought of him as 
likely to die soon! He seemed so exceptionally vital, 
full of force and hope and energy. And at the same 
time he seemed so necessary to Christ's great work 
here on this coast, and so exceptionally able and 
qualified to prosecute it! I never found it so hard 
before to realize that the announcement of a death 
could be true. 

But again; what shall I say? To say that with him 
now "It is far better," is to say what needs no greater 
assurance than we have, even without words, kk That 
they may be with me where I am," verily as soon as 
that prayer of onr Lord is answered, and then it must 
be far better. 

Perfected in holiness and blessedness forever! How 
our poor eyes try to follow him and get some glimpse 
of that society. We were together on Mt. Hamilton, 
looking out into the starry spheres, so far, so far! 



44 

And as we looked, the wonder grew, "What is man 
that thon art mindful of him?" And if we could 
have turned that greatest of all telescopes (which was 
not in use that day), to the same fields of vision, it 
would have carried our sight only somewhat farther 
on among the scenes in outer space. And we talked 
it over with enthusiasm that day that we had seen so 
much of our Heavenly Father's works. Little did I 
think that we were seeing as "in a glass darkly," he 
would so soon see "face to face." And if what we 
saw upon that exceeding high mountain through 
those fine instruments kindled in him so fine a flow of 
feeling what must be to him the experience of the 
heavenly view! 

But I am trespassing; I could write all day. Alas ! 
"the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof." 
Friend of my college days, companion of my life mis- 
sion on this Pacific coast, trusted co-laborer these 
forty years, how can I bid you farewell ! 

With kindest sympathy for you and yours and with 
prayers for your consolation. 

I am, yours truly, 

S. H. WlIXEY. 



45 

FROM REV. DR. BENTON, PROFESSOR IN PACIFIC 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 



Oakland, Cal., Feb. 27, 1 
Dear Mrs. Atkinson: 



How surprised I was this morning to be told that 
Dr. Atkinson had died on Monday. I was in San 
Francisco Tuesday evening to lecture and did not 
see the announcement in the paper that evening. 

Of course, we know nothing beyond the fact. We 
hope it did not come upon you suddenly; and we 
hope you experienced the wonderfulness of the divine 
support, from the sickness to the burial. We sor- 
row with you. My wife and mother had learned to 
admire and love your husband; and are now more 
than ever glad that he was here with us last summer 
and enjoyed himself in various ways so much. 

He was so erect, so well, so ready for physical or 
mental work, when here, and so full of plans and 
hopes for the coming months and years, that we had 
not thought it likely that he would die these ten years 
yet. And so we feel a sense of disappointment and 
personal loss in the event, which is so overwhelming 
to yourself and your children and your life long 
friends. 

Personally, he may have needed no premonitions, 
but in his public position he did and we hope he was 
favored with such as might enable him to "set his 
house in order. M 



46 

111 your loss, loneliness and grief, we counsel you 
and yours to God and the word of His grace. To 
whom else shall poor mortals go, for refuge and solace. 
With love and sympathy. 

J. A. Benton. 



FROM REV. J. A. CRUZAN, A FORMER PASTOR OF THE 
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF PORTLAND. 



San Francisco, March 10, ii 
My Dear Mrs. Atkinson: 

The news of Dr. Atkinson's death came to me 
in my sick room, hence the delay in writing you. 
It is difficult to put into words all that is in my 
heart, for I loved Dr. Atkinson very dearly. I 
think there is no severer test of a Christian minister 
than the way he feels and acts towards his successor 
in a pastorate. Dr. Alexander, of Princeton, used to 
tell the young men that the "besetting sin of the 
ministry is envy." There was not a particle of envy 
in Dr. Atkinson's great heart. During the five years 
of my pastorate, in countless ways, he made me feel 
that I had no truer friend in all the church than he. 
And in so many ways did he give me help and coun- 
sel that I needed, so modestly, so kindly, so unobtru- 
sively that I learned to love him as a dear father. 

I refuse to think of him as dead. It is not death 
but birth. It is not rest even. It is new strength 
and a new and endless activity. For, ' ' Are they not 



47 

all ministering spirits. ' ' Bnt how his presence will be 
missed! As the old farmer said at Daniel Webster's 
funeral, so I say of Dr. Atkinson: "the world will be 
very lonesome without you.". My heart goes out to 
you, the dear wife and the children of this royal man. 
As no others you know his worth, and the great loss 
of his going hence. 

May God have you in his own blessed keeping. 
Mrs. Cruzan joins me in love and deep sympathy. 

Yours with regard, 

J. A. Cruzan. 



FROM REV. DR. FISKE, OF NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 

Newburyport, March 4th, 1889. 
My Dear Mrs. Atkinson: 

I cannot tell you how surprised and grieved I was 
at the sad intelligence that came to your eastern 
friends last week. 

I can hardly realize that your dear husband is no 
longer on this earth, that he has been called away 
from the friends and the work he loved so well. 

I regret now more than ever that I failed to see him 
when in Portland last spring; I little thought then 
that I was missing my last opportunity to meet him 
in the flesh. I have known and loved him for many 
years and few nobler and more consecrated men has it 
.been my privilege to know; indeed, I cannot recall 
one in the whole circle of my friends who gave him- 
self more completely and joyfully to work of the Lord. 



4 8 

And he had done so much and had been so active that 
it seemed as if there must be years of service still be- 
fore him. But he was needed elsewhere. The time 
had come for him to go up higher. ' ' He rests from 
his labors and his works do follow him;" and it seems 
to me that for many years to come there will be fol- 
lowing him heavenward from all over Oregon, cheer- 
ing reports of the results of his self-denying labors. 
His death is a great loss to the Pacific slope. To you 
and your family it is an unspeakable loss. How des- 
olate will be your home! I am thankful that you are 
not entirely alone — that your son is with you and 
your daughter so near. They will be a great comfort 
to you, aud better than all, you will, I am sure, find 
a refuge and a solace beneath the overshadowing 
wings of infinite love. 

Mrs. Fiske desires me to convey to you and your 
family the assurance of her tenderest sympathy with 
my own. 

The dear Lord bless and comfort you all. 

Very sincerely and sympathizingly yours, 

D. T. Fiske. 



49 

FROM REV. S. L. BATES, OF NEWBURY, VERMONT. 

Newbury, Vt, March 22, 1889. 
My Dear Mrs. Atkinson: 

I cannot longer refrain from telling you of my deep 
sympathy with you in your great sorrow. It has 
been in my mind and heart to do this ever since the 
sad intelligence of your dear husband's death came to 
us, but I have feared that a letter from outside the 
circle of kindred and most intimate friends would be 
an intrusion upon the sacredness and privacy of your 
personal grief. Be assured of my sincere sympathy 
with you in this terrible bereavement. In a two-fold 
sense I do feel my self afflicted in your affliction. 

It grieves me that you and your family must be 
called to taste this bitter cup, and I sorrow at the 
death of Dr. Atkinson as that of a very choice per- 
sonal friend. 

I have in the years of my ministry here, counted 
myself extremely fortunate to have had such an inti- 
mate association with him as has given me the assur- 
ance of a very sincere friendship between us. 

You, of course, know of my strong attachment for 
his brother Joseph, and my high regard for the family, 
and can understand how well prepared I was for a 
high estimate of Dr. Atkinson as a very noble and 
sincere man in all the relations of life. But a personal 



5o 

acquaintance with 'him led me to a positive admira- 
tion and affection for him. Besides, the sad and 
tender offices I performed for yonr dear son, Dr. Geo. H. 
Atkinson, of Brooklyn, as well as the high esteem I 
had for him, formed another bond of tender regard for 
the father, and the entire family, indeed. I have pre- 
served with great care the precious letter he wrote me 
after the burial of your son and the beautiful Chris- 
tian spirit it breathed has been a constant lesson to me 
in the recent years. I cannot express to you my own 
sense of personal loss in Dr. Atkinson's death, not to 
say sense of the loss which the church and country 
have sustained. If ever the history of the Pacific 
coast is truthfully written out, his great power in all 
that region will stand forth in wonderful prominence 
and light. But I continually ask myself, since his 
death creates such a void in the country and in the 
church at large, what must be its desolating power in 
his own home ? I do not wish to intrude upon the 
sacredness of this relation further than to assure you 
that I do appreciate the sorrow that has come upon 
you and yours. Truly the hand of God is very heav- 
ily upon you. But I scarcely need add what you al- 
ready know that the very things which make your 
loss greater do also make your comforts richer. The 
memories of the past are indeed blessed and the hopes 
of the future especially precious. Prompted by my 
high regard for Dr. Atkinson, I prepared a brief sketch 
of his life for our Vermont Congregational paper, the 
Vermont Chronicle, and I send you by to-day's mail 
two copies of that issue. I am aware that this sketch 



5 1 

is very imperfect so far as it gives my just estimate of 
Dr. Atkinson's character and work; it was only de- 
signed for an outline of these. 

Mrs. Bates joins me in expressions of sympathy 
for you all. 

May the dear Lord continually give you his pres- 
ence and support. 

Very sincerely yours, 

S. h. Bates. 



Gone home! Gone home! His active, earnest spirit, 

His great heart of love ! 
The heavenly mansion now he doth inherit, 
Which Christ made readv ere he went above. 



I have fought a good fight; 
I have finished my course; 
I have kept the faith. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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